| Abstract: | The paper, based on a major comparative study of the introduction of management information systems in retailing, health and higher education, argues for a broader and more differentiated account of users in studies of technological innovation. End-users must incorporate new systems into their working lives and in so doing play a crucial and active part in embedding new systems into organizations. The particular focus of this paper is the interplay of two key aspects of the varied and developing relationships between users and new systems-usability and utility. By classifying discussions of usability into six distinct components, the paper recasts it as a multifaceted phenomenon that is as much social as it is technological. The development of utility is explored through a discussion of three different groups of users-one drawn from each research site. Each group is taken to exemplify different locations in and stances towards processes of techno-organizational change. |
